Dog Temperament: Everything You Need to Know to Choose (And Care For) the Best Dog for Your Lifestyle
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Dog Temperament: Everything You Need to Know to Choose (and Care for) the Best Dog for Your Lifestyle Learn everything you need to know about dog temperament and how to use it to make a responsible choice of the best dog for your lifestyle. READ MORE HERE. Most of us have done it at least once. We think about how nice it would be to have a dog (or maybe a second dog). We either decide to buy a specific type of dog from a breeder, or we start looking at local shelters or rescues to adopt one. You may have fallen in love with a neighbor’s dog who is well trained and has a sweet disposition. Or you walked into a shelter and immediately set your heart on the most adorable dog whose sad eyes are begging to go home with you. If you were to choose a dog this way, you might get lucky. But chances are good that it won’t end well. Why? Because just like with people, there is a wide range of personality difference in the dog world. Adding a dog to your family is a lifelong commitment (for the dog, that is) when it’s done correctly. Far too many dogs end up in shelters when it’s not. Why Understanding Dog Temperament Matters The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) reports that 3.3 million dogs are surrendered to shelters every year. Of those, 670,000 are euthanized. In many cases, the reason given for giving up a dog is behavior problems. If the adopters had known more about temperament, they could have avoided most of these behavior “problems." To make the right decision on a breed, you need to research and possibly make some tough decisions. You need to find the right dog for your family’s lifestyle. Something most people don’t think about is that it’s equally important to the dog to be chosen by the right family. There’s a lot more to bringing a new dog home than dog-proofing your home and deciding on a name. Adopting a dog should never be an impulsive decision. Dog temperament is the most important thing you should consider before deciding on a dog. In this guide, we’ll look at the two main components of dog temperament: breed temperament and individual temperament. We’ll discuss how to use knowledge of both to make a responsible decision that will result in a happy family and a happy dog. But first, let’s talk about how we define temperament. What Does Dog Temperament Mean? So what is this thing called temperament? It’s a little tough to pin down because there is more than one thing that makes up a dog’s temperament. But basically, it can be compared to what we call personality in humans. We can also define dog temperament as how a dog responds to people, other dogs, and changes in its environment. It’s not the same thing as behavior, but it does affect a dog’s behavior. Dog temperament is stable and for the most part doesn’t change. (But there are a few exceptions, which we will touch on later in this guide). Behaviors can be controlled or managed with training and socialization. Choosing a dog with the right temperament for your family is critical to ensuring that your dog will find its forever home with you. And isn’t that what we all want? In the dog world, breed is an important indicator of what a dog’s temperament is likely to be. But we can’t rely on breed alone, because just like humans, individual dogs will also have individual temperaments. That’s why you should take both typical breed temperament and an individual dog’s temperament into account when choosing the best dog for your family. Understanding Breed Temperament We often hear the questions, “What’s the best breed of dog?” and “What’s the worst breed of dog?” The short answer to both questions is that there isn’t one. There are no “best” or “worst” dogs—only good and bad matches. A better question would be, “What’s the best breed of dog for my lifestyle?” Here’s how to figure that out. Start by making a shortlist of breeds that appeal to you and your family. Then research those breeds. On this site, we have articles on every breed of dog you can think of, both common and rare. We offer a lot of information in those articles designed to help in the decision-making process. You’ll want to know a breed’s primary temperament traits. On this site, we lay out the typical positive and potentially negative characteristics of each breed (because, like people, no dog is perfect!) to help you make an informed decision. Know What You Don’t Want For example, you will want to take a dog’s energy level into consideration. Certain breeds need a lot of exercise. If you’re not prepared to see that they get it, you shouldn’t consider breeds like the Airedale, the Siberian Husky, or many sporting or herding dogs. You will have an unhappy and, again, potentially destructive dog on your hands. Let's say you’re a working family where no one is home during the day. You will not want to choose a dog that is prone to separation anxiety (like the Bichon Frise or the Bernese Mountain Dog). Or maybe you don’t have a lot of free time to spend training a dog. Independent-minded breeds like the Lhasa Apso, the Chow Chow, and many herding and hunting dogs aren’t good choices for you. On the other hand, you might be choosing a dog for an older person living alone. A toy breed with a devoted temperament and a low exercise need—like the Pomeranian—may be just the right fit. A final point to consider would be the “temperament” or “personality” of your family. Are you a calm, quiet family? Or more of a free-wheeling, fun-loving family? Choose a breed with a temperament to match for a perfect fit. Temperament and Instinct A helpful way to do this is to consider what a breed was initially designed to do. Because dogs have instinctive behaviors that are ingrained. A hunting dog will behave a particular way, but a herder or a lap dog is likely to have a completely different set of behaviors. Some of this is instinct (behavior that was natural to a breed before humans began breeding them). But some of it is bred into them by the practice of selective breeding (or artificial selection by humans). So What is Selective Breeding? Over decades or even centuries, most breeds have been altered by humans who try to eliminate undesired traits in a breed or to reproduce desirable ones. Or possibly to create a new breed that has the desired characteristics of two different breeds in one package. The Toy Fox Terrier is an excellent example of selective breeding for temperament. This breed was created by humans to combine the feisty, self-confident traits of the Smooth Fox Terrier with the calmer temperament and smaller size of a lap dog. The breeders crossed the Smooth Fox Terrier with the runts of several smaller breeds (Manchester Terrier, Chihuahua, Italian Greyhound, and Miniature Pinscher). After several generations, breeders had developed the dog they wanted. This process created a new breed (the Toy Fox Terrier) with a distinct temperament all its own. This is the process of selective breeding for temperament. For more information on the development of this breed, see Toy Fox Terrier Temperament. Breeding “to Type” After the establishment of a breed, registered breeders begin a process of “breeding to type” (or conformation). This means that they specify in each breed’s standard exactly how that breed is expected to look and, to some extent, behave. These breed standards include a section on the expected temperament of the breed. For example, the AKC breed standard for the Great Dane contains the following wording: “Temperament: The Great Dane must be spirited, courageous, always friendly, dependable, and never timid or aggressive.” (See the AKC site for the entire Great Dane breed standard.) So responsible breeders select for breeding only those dogs that fit that standard, or are “true to type.” Any Great Dane who was aggressive or shy would not meet those criteria. The AKC would consider that dog not fit to breed. He would, therefore, not pass that undesirable trait to the next generation. Breeders use this standard as a way to ensure that dogs of a particular breed will have very similar temperaments. Individual temperament is also important and can vary widely, but this is why you should consider breed temperament carefully when choosing the right breed for your family. Breed temperament is not a guarantee of a breed’s “personality,” because each dog is an individual. But it’s a reasonably reliable guide to natural behaviors you can expect from dogs of that breed. A Word of Caution Same-breed dogs bought from reputable breeders will indeed have reasonably uniform breed temperaments. But if you were to purchase a dog from a pet store, online dog seller, or “backyard breeder,” your experience may be very different. Dogs bought from these sources are likely to have been bred in puppy mills. Dogs bought from these sources are not bred to a standard and are often inbred. Their temperaments are more likely to vary from the standard that reputable breeders use.